Driving to space.
Walking through fire.
There are many thing that are considered impossible.
But none as impossible as getting Kawhi Leonard to smile.
The government had grown curious about this, and decided to visit a place called Equestria to attain the one secret weapon that may be the key to making Kawhi show human emotion:
Izzy Moonbow.
Kawhi was brought into a spare interrogation room under the impression that he was taking an immersive survey. As an agent in a dark suit led Izzy towards the room in which he was being held, he leaned down to speak to her.
"This won't be easy," he said. "Hell, this is one of the most impossible tasks there is. But think of it this way. If you make that man smile, you will be a hero. Remembered in this world forever. Understand?"
"Sure! It can't be that hard!" Izzy replied with a wide smile.
"If you say so," said the agent, grabbing the doorknob. "Good luck." He opened the door and Izzy walked inside.
The effect was immediate yet fleeting. Kawhi Leonard's eyes widened a small bit at the sight of the pony, but almost immediately they returned to normal. It was the most something had affected Kawhi since he had received the Spank of Life.
Izzy made no hesitation. "Hi!" she said. "I'm Izzy!"
"Cool." Kawhi didn't ask what she was, where she was from, or why she was there. He just said one word.
"What's your name?" Izzy asked, hoping to get more than one word.
No luck.
"Kawhi." said the inhuman basketball player.
"Oooookay, well, what do you do for fun?" Surely he would have to form a sentence to answer this.
"Basketball." he replied.
"Anything else?"
"Exercise. For basketball."
Though more than one word came from Kawhi, this was not a victory. Izzy's ears drooped slightly as she thought about how to reach Kawhi. Everyone had feelings inside, and all Izzy had to do was figure out how to reach Kawhi's feelings, right?
On the other side of the one-way window, a group of government agents watched. "This is not going well," said one.
"Calm down, Derrick," said a second, who was watching the scene intently. "It's only been a few minutes."
"Still though," said a third dark-suited man. "Look at Kawhi's face! He literally does not care at all about a purple pony from another dimension being right in front of him! Even talking to him!"
"I think she can get it done," said the fourth agent, who had led Izzy to Kawhi. "It'll just take some time."
"Yeah, well, I've got dinner with my family at seven," said the agent named Derrick. "I don't have all day."
"Relax," said the second. "Something's happening." All four agents immediately leaned toward the glass, giving the scene before them their full attention. "I think Kawhi's talking."
Izzy was determined to make Kawhi Leonard smile. It was a challenge, and she never backed down from a challenge.
"So what's basketball?" she asked. Maybe she should learn a bit about him first.
Kawhi sighed. "It's a game where you throw a ball into a round hoop. When it goes in you get points."
Izzy had expected a bit more of an explanation. "Is there anything else you could tell me about you?"
Kawhi scratched his nose. "I'm a fun guy."
Izzy's smile faltered. "Thats it?"
Kawhi shifted in his seat. "I mean, it's just more questions that you'd have to ask me for me to tell you more about myself.
I just can't give you a whole spill."
Izzy tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
"You're not specific enough," Kawhi said. His voice remained monotone.
Izzy took a moment to realize that she had managed to get several sentences out of Kawhi. This was a small victory, and said small victory was enough for Izzy to regain full confidence.
"Do you have friends?" Izzy asked. Surely he had friends. Everyone has friends.
"I have teammates." he replied.
"What are your teammates like?" Izzy inquired.
"Some of them try to make me laugh," Kawhi said. "They always tryna tell me these lame jokes. I'm not cool with that."
"Who tries to tell you lame jokes?" Izzy asked.
"Patrick." said Kawhi. "Patrick Beverley."
Izzy decided to reel the conversation back in. "Don't you have anything that makes you happy?"
Kawhi thought for a moment. "Basketball." he said.
"Okay, do you have any friends that make you happy?"
"No."
Izzy was stumped. She wasn't ready to give up just yet, but at the same time, she didn't know what else to say. She stared at Kawhi, trying to read him, but it was impossible.
Then, Izzy got an idea.
Her horn glowed, and out of nowhere a neon green tennis ball popped into existence. She placed it on the tip of her horn and swayed slightly as she attempted to balance it.
Meanwhile, behind the glass...
"I think she's going the circus clown route," said Derrick, who you probably don't remember.
"What is that pony doing?" said Agent #2. Bet you don't remember him either.
"Hey, look!" said the third agent. "I think Kawhi's face is moving!"
As Izzy balanced the ball on her head, she glanced at Kawhi and noticed his face moved. Her smile grew wider, as she thought she might finally be able to get him to smile. But when the tennis ball finally fell off of her head, she looked at Kawhi to realize that his straight face had only become tighter.
There was silence, except for the sound of the tennis ball bouncing on the tiled floor.
Izzy sat in the chair across from Kawhi, and gave him her best puppy dog eyes. "Please smile?" she said. "Please?"
Even the toughest of human beings would have smiled upon seeing Izzy's face at that moment. But the tsunami of adorableness that was Izzy's facial expression simply was not enough. Kawhi remained stone-faced.
Izzy slumped. She had run out of ideas. She stared down at the steel table in front of her, and her ears drooped fully. She was ready to accept that there was nothing that could make Kawhi Leonard smile.
Then she realized something she should have realized before. She got the idea that was so plainly obvious that she was amazed that she forgot about it.
She walked up to Kawhi and wrapped her hooves around him, embracing him in a tight hug. On the other side of the glass, the tense silence silence was so thick you could slice it with a knife as the agents watched.
She hugged Kawhi for a solid minute before finally letting him go. She looked at his face to see something amazing. Something incredible.
Kawhi's expression slowly morphed from a straight face to a small smirk to a smile. He looked up at Izzy.
"Thanks." he said.
"That was it!" Izzy exclaimed. "You just needed a hug!"
On the other side of the glass, the four agents erupted into whoops and loud cheers. Izzy, a purple pony from a different dimension, had accomplished the greatest feat of all time.
She had gotten Kawhi Leonard to smile.
The agent that had introduced Izzy to Kawhi walked in. "Great job!" he said to her, giving her a hug himself. "You did it! You made him smile!"
"Is it really that big of a deal?" Kawhi asked, as the agent straightened up and smoothed out his suit.
"Of course it is!" said the agent. "You've never smiled! Never! We were starting to think you weren't human! Thanks to Izzy, we know that you're capable of displaying human emotion!"
"I think he just hasn't had a good hug in a while," said Izzy.
"Guess so," said Kawhi. He reached out and gave Izzy a small pat on the head, taking care to avoid her horn.
And so from that day forward, ponies became regular residents of Equestria. Izzy was forever known as the pony who made the toughest human being smile as well as open up the relationship between the two species. She went down in history as a hero, a hero who's hugs could make anyone smile, no matter how sad or emotionless they are.
Author's Note
Wow, you made it to the end. Congrats.
First of all, shoutout to TheMajorTechie (or TechnoNerd) for providing me with the tennis ball idea. Second, I started out stumped about how the story would end, but I kind of knew I wanted it to be a bit heartfelt at some point in the story.
Thanks for reading this story, and if you enjoyed it, let me know so I know whether or not I should write another one.
Peace.
